SEPTA transit agency: major reductions possible

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The transit agency serving the Philadelphia area says it will have to significantly reduce service over the next 10 years if it doesn’t get significant new funding.

SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey testified Thursday at a Pennsylvania Senate committee hearing held at Temple University. The transit agency says the system will need $6.5 billion over the next 10 years to make critically needed repairs. If that revenue doesn’t come through, the agency will have to make network adjustments that could leave 89,000 daily riders without rail service.

Casey says overall ridership has reached its highest levels in over two decades, but there have been four straight years of reduced funding from the state.